French health authorities say there are now 20 confirmed cancer cases in woman with faulty breast implants, but say there is no proven link between the two.

The French Government announced earlier this month it would pay for 30,000 women to have the faulty implants, produced by Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), removed.

The implants have been found to contain non-medical grade silicone filler, and have an increased risk of rupture.

French consumer health agency AFSSAPS said that as of December 28 it had registered 15 cases of breast adenocarcinoma, the most frequent form of breast cancer, one case of breast lymphoma, two cases of other lymphoma, one case of lung cancer and one case of acute myelogenous leukemia in women with the implants.

But the agency stressed that no link had been established between cases of cancer and having PIP implants.

It said the number of breast cancer cases in women with PIP implants reported to date "remains lower than the rate observed in the general population".

Agency chief Dominique Maraninchi put the figures in the context of the general population, pointing out that "one woman in 10 has, has had or will have breast cancer."

Health officials had earlier said eight cases of cancer had been registered in women with the implants, including one woman who died from a rare form of large cell lymphoma.

AFSSAPS said it had also registered 1,143 ruptures and 495 inflammatory reactions in PIP implants.

Up to 400,000 women around the world have received the sub-standard implants by PIP.

PIP was shut down and its products banned in April 2010 after it was revealed to have been using non-authorised silicone gel that caused abnormally high implant rupture rates.

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